[Hands On] Popular Lip-Sync Music Video App, Triller, Comes To Google Play - It's Actually Incredibly Fun To Play With

Triller. That’s a silly sounding name and a really dumb idea for an app.

Those were my first thoughts when I saw this app pop up on the Android Police to-do list. Triller is the kind of app I assumed would appeal only to narcissistic, college-attending, plaid-wearing, Hipsters born after the year 1995. The fact that it launched as an iOS exclusive back in July, and this promo video didn’t help that perception.

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[Hands On] Popular Lip-Sync Music Video App, Triller, Comes To Google Play – It’s Actually Incredibly Fun To Play With was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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[Hands On] Popular Lip-Sync Music Video App, Triller, Comes To Google Play - It's Actually Incredibly Fun To Play With

The Range Rover Td6 isn't just diesel done right — it improves perfection

Until I rolled down the window of the Range Rover Sport Td6 in a highway tunnel to listen for the telltale tone of a diesel engine, a sound similar to an industrial grinder gnawing away at some gravel, I wasn’t totally sure I was in fact driving a diesel-powered Land Rover. From where I was sitting behind the wheel, it sure didn’t seem like one.

That’s because the the British luxury SUV was quiet, smooth and peppy — something larger diesels have never truly been. If you’ve ever ridden in a diesel-powered bus or watched a semi-truck shake, rattle and roll away from a stoplight, you know what I mean. …

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The Range Rover Td6 isn't just diesel done right — it improves perfection

Nevada reporters blow the whistle on billionaire owner Sheldon Adelson

Note to billionaires: buying a newspaper doesn’t mean buying the souls of its journalists

The staff of one prominent Nevada paper, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, has been vexed by its new owner, Sheldon Adelson. At first, Adelson bought the paper but refused to disclose his identity, leading the staff to tweet out the Society of Professional Journalists ethics code about “transparency.” Adelson’s motives for the acquisition — and the secrecy — remained obscure until the journalists started digging

Their continued investigation into the motives behind the paper’s mysterious sale to a billionaire casino magnate has led them to a clue that was in their notes all along: their own assignments. …

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Nevada reporters blow the whistle on billionaire owner Sheldon Adelson

Verizon deal: free memory upgrade on Galaxy devices or free 32GB microSD card with Droid Turbo 2

This weekend, Verizon is offering deals for subscribers looking to upgrade to a new phone. You can get up to a $300 gift card for your trade-in toward a Samsung Galaxy device (depending on your trade-in-value)(honestly, you may be better off selling the device on your own).

You can also get a free memory upgrade on any of the newest Samsung Galaxy Devices when activating a payment plan. You can get either the Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge+, or the Note 5 with 64GB for the price of the 32GB model.

Lastly, you can receive a free 32GB microSD card with the purchase of a Motorola Droid Turbo 2, doubling your memory.

The first deal offering up to $300 toward a phone can be combined with either deal.

The free memory upgrade discount will be applied immediately and does not require reimbursement.

Both these deals are offered only this weekend for the purchase of the respective eligible devices and activating them on a device payment plan.

Source | Source 2 |…

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Verizon deal: free memory upgrade on Galaxy devices or free 32GB microSD card with Droid Turbo 2

ZTE announces 6.0-inch Axon MAX

ZTE has really been trying hard to step up its game with the high-end Axon series, employing powerful hardware and premium materials and built quality into the handsets. The device family already has quite a few offers in its ranks, like the core Axon model and modifications like the Axon Elite, Axon Lux and Axon Pro, all with a display size of 5.5 inches, as well as an Axon mini at 5.2 inches.

Now the lineup has grown bigger in every sense of the word with the announcement of the Axon MAX, with its huge 6.0-inch FHD AMOLED display. Like the rest of its Axon siblings, the Axon MAX is designed with premium looks in mind and boasts a thin and slick body, measuring 160 x 80 x 7.5mm and made from aircraft-grade aluminum-titanium alloy.

It is powered by Qualcomm’s new mid-range octa-core offer – the Snapdragon 617, paired with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, expendable through a microSD slot, housed within the second SIM tray of the dual-SIM device. The camera setup looks quite impressive with a 16MP shooter on the back with phase detection autofocus and a 13MP selfies shooter.

The Axon MAX is powered by a quite large 4140 mAh battery, which also supports Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 2.0 standard and promises a snappy top-up from zero to 60% in only 30 minutes. Other interesting specs highlights include a USB type-C port, dedicated AK4961 24-bit ADC for superior audio and a rear-mounted fingerprint reader.

The Axon MAX is already up for order in China for CNY 2,799 (about $431). Color options are currently limited to Gold and sales on the local market should begin later this month, with no word on international availability yet.

Along with the new handset, ZTE also announced its “Global VIP Passport” post-sales service. It is aimed at high-profile business users and offers an interesting mix of secure data-backup, protection and restore services, handset repair and replacement, as well as preferential ZTE rates on flights worldwide.

Source 1 (in Chinese) | Source 2 |…

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ZTE announces 6.0-inch Axon MAX

HTC says they've made "a very, very big technological breakthrough" with Vive

HTC CEO Cher Wang has claimed that the company has made “a very, very big technological breakthrough” with their Vive VR headset. She made the claim while speaking at the Vive Unbound developers forum in China yesterday.

The revelation came in the wake of the announcement that the headset’s launch is being delayed from December this year to April 2016. Commenting on the delay while speaking to Engadget, she said, “We shouldn’t make our users swap their systems later just so we could meet the December shipping date.” Pre-orders for the device will begin in February.

Although Wang didn’t provide any details on the big advancement, she did say that it will be shown off at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January next month. She also said that aside from consumers, many major car brands, including Audi, will be installing Vives in their flagship stores for providing virtual reality test drive experience to…

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HTC says they've made "a very, very big technological breakthrough" with Vive

Apple iPhone responsible for more than 30% of photos uploaded to Flickr this year

The rise of the smartphone, in particular the Apple iPhone, can be spotted quickly in a graph showing the origin of photos uploaded to Flickr over the years. In the beginning of 2010, the iPhone was responsible for less than 7% of the images posted on Flickr. For 2015, that figure has risen to more than 30%, putting Apple’s iconic smartphone on the top of the list of the app’s photo sources.

The Apple iPhone 6 and Apple iPhone 5s were the most widely used cameras in 2015, according to Flickr. Besides those two models, other iPhones in Flickr’s top ten for the year include the Apple iPhone … – Source

Apple iPhone responsible for more than 30% of photos uploaded to Flickr this year

Report says Target working on its own mobile payments system, could launch next year

Just a week after Walmart launched a new mobile payments service Walmart Pay, there are reports that retailer Target is also working on a home grown mobile wallet, which is said to be in the “early stages” of development.

The service – which would let customers pay using a mobile app – could be launched as soon as next year, although what’s worth mentioning is that Target “has not committed to launch the product,” the report notes.

While in-store testing hasn’t yet begun, the Minneapolis-based retailer has already partnered with credit card companies for the service, which, the report said, would use QR code technology rather than the near-field communication technology (NFC).

If you aren’t in the know, many big retailers including Target, Walmart, and BestBuy are already backing Merchant Customer Exchange’s contact-less payment system, CurrentC. When reached out for comment, a Target spokesperson just said the company is also exploring additional mobile wallet…

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Report says Target working on its own mobile payments system, could launch next year

Huawei Mate 8 prepares for U.S. launch by visiting the FCC

On Wednesday, we told you that the Huawei Mate 8 and honor 5X will both be coming to the U.S. next year. Huawei will show off the pair during CES next month. Of the two models, the Mate 8 has visited the FCC, confirming that the handset will be coming to the states. The model number of the Mate 8 device tested by the FCC was NXT-L09, and the documentation included the results of some Wi-Fi tests conducted at 5G speeds.

The FCC paperwork doesn’t include any photographs, but did show an illustration of where the FCC label is going to reside. The phone was the first to come with the new Kirin … – Source

Huawei Mate 8 prepares for U.S. launch by visiting the FCC

HTC's Wang teases "Big technological breakthrough" for VR to be revealed at CES

HTC CEO Cher Wang made a huge announcement today at the company’s Vive Unbound developers forum in Beijing, that has VR fans eagerly awaiting CES (which begins January 6th and runs through January 9th). HTC’s co-founder announced that two-weeks ago, HTC and Valve made “a very, very big technological breakthrough” with the HTC Vive VR headset. Valve is HTC’s partner on the project.

As a result of this new breakthrough, HTC has decided to 86 the old product, and will ship the new one instead. This will result in the company missing the original shipping date. “We shouldn’t make our users swap … – Source

HTC's Wang teases "Big technological breakthrough" for VR to be revealed at CES

[The Android Police Podcast] Episode 187: Use A Taco Emoji For Priority Attention

Welcome back to another week of the Android Police Podcast. To catch us live on Hangouts On Air every Thursday at 5:30PM PST (subject to change as per the calendar widget below), just head over to androidpolice.com/podcast. For the unedited video show, click here (warning: this video is uncut). As always, we’ll take your questions at 530-HELLO-AP and also at our email address: podcast at androidpolice dot com.

On this week’s episode: Google Store holiday deals, Hangouts might drop SMS, Now On Tap updates, the ongoing saga of the Saygus V2, and more!

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[The Android Police Podcast] Episode 187: Use A Taco Emoji For Priority Attention was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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[The Android Police Podcast] Episode 187: Use A Taco Emoji For Priority Attention

It's time to retire your selfies and brunch pics

Brunch, cats and selfies are out this year, according to year-end data from the photo-sharing community EyeEm.

While not a comprehensive survey of overall photo trends — EyeEm has a community of only 15 million, compared to the hundreds of millions on Instagram — some interesting threads emerged from the community’s most recent look at user data, released Friday.

See also: We took 6 smartphones around NYC to see which camera can capture it all

After studying the types of photography shared on the site in 2015, EyeEm reports that selfies decreased 33%, and photos of food and animals dropped 15% and 12%, respectively. …

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It's time to retire your selfies and brunch pics

Extroverts Rejoice! Now Facebook Finds You Parties

Facebook should tell me what to do tonight. It already knows what I like, where I live, and who I hang out with. Now it will. After accidentally becoming the most powerful force in party invitations, Facebook is jacking us into its omniscient view of the event landscape. Starting today on iOS, Facebook has a powerful new Event browsing experience. First, rather than suggesting Events on… Read More

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Extroverts Rejoice! Now Facebook Finds You Parties

Dad turns his grossly adorable baby into a grossly adorable Elf on the Shelf

This season, it seems like everyone wants to be an Elf on the Shelf. From Canadian dads to grown adult professionals, everyone wants to play the elf — including tiny babies.

See also: Boston man will be your real-life Elf on the Shelf for $100 an hour

Alan Lawrence is a father of six who decided to dress up his 4-month-old as an elf on the shelf. Lawrence, who’s a graphic designer, started to stage, then photograph, little stories for his little elf. There is no creature more mischievous on earth than a tiny baby, and it shows.

Image: …

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Dad turns his grossly adorable baby into a grossly adorable Elf on the Shelf

Fullscreen hires MLB Advanced Media, Netflix and Xbox alums

LOS ANGELES — Fullscreen has tapped executives from MLB Advanced Media, Netflix and Xbox to help roll out its upcoming subscription video service.

Mashable has exclusively learned that Martin Keely from MLB Advanced Media, Randy Ahn from Microsoft’s Xbox Entertainment Studios, and Trent Good, formerly of Netflix and Hulu, have joined Fullscreen’s new executive team focusing on the upcoming entertainment service and products serving creators, brands and consumers

Keely, who most recently worked as senior vice president of partner solutions for MLB Advanced Media, will serve as general manager of the upcoming entertainment service; Ahn, who was senior vice president of product strategy for Xbox Entertainment Studios, will serve as senior vice president of product strategy; and Good, who recently was global creative director for Netflix, will serve as senior vice president of design …

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Fullscreen hires MLB Advanced Media, Netflix and Xbox alums